1 Corinthians 6 (6)

Pray Psalm 32.1, 2.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Sing Psalm 32.1, 2.
(Hendon: Take My Life and Let It Be)
Blessed are they whose sins the LORD has forgiven by His Word!
Pure their spirits are within; them He charges with no sin;
them He charges with no sin!

Read 1 Corinthians 6.1-20; meditate on verse 18-20.

Prepare
1. Why are we not our own?

2. How did Paul describe our body?

Meditation
Paul did not dwell on the sins of his readers. He had loftier goals, and he wanted them to think with the mind of Christ about who they are and what that implies. But he had to confront their sinful practices and urge them to discontinue them all. Old leaven is of no use; they needed to be a new lump to grow and bear fruit for the Lord. Growth in the Lord—from infancy to maturity—requires both repentance and renewed vision and resolve.

And the daily dedicating of our bodies to the Lord for His glory.

Paul’s command to flee sexual immorality surely would have led the Corinthians to recall Joseph and how he fled from Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39). Better to end up slandered and thrown in jail than to give in to wantonness and immorality. Our bodies are not our own to abuse with such wickedness. We have been bought with the price of Jesus’ blood; we are not our own (v. 19)! Our bodies are the dwelling-place of God!

We should thus concentrate on how to glorify God with our bodies, not to offend against Him (v. 20). But if we’re going to use our bodies to honor the Lord, we must first make sure our spirit—our soul—is cleansed and rightly engaged with Him. That means dealing with wrong attitudes, sinful desires, hurtful intentions, and messed-up priorities by giving them all over to the Lord to be made new. This is a daily need and requires daily disciplines of prayer, meditation, seeking the Lord, hearing His Word, and offering ourselves to Him. As hard as we must flee immorality we must flee to the safety of our Lord and His grace.

For we are not our own, but His.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162.
Paul told the Corinthians clearly: “Flee sexual immorality” (1 Cor. 6.18) because it is against God’s Law.
But it is also a sin that infects our whole person: body, mind, soul, and spirit. And in so doing, we are crowding out the Holy Spirit, “who is in you, whom you have from God” (1 Cor. 6.19). Moreover, we don’t even belong to ourselves because we have been “bought” and paid for “at a price” (1 Cor. 6.20).

And not just any price, but the price was the sacrifice of the Son of God, who gave “His life a ransom for many” (Mk. 10.45; 1 Tim. 2.6).

“Therefore submit to God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Jms. 4.7).

Back in the day there was a cartoon that may still be around today; the point being, the main character knew how to flee. Every episode had some version of the Roadrunner evading his nemesis Wile E. Coyote. In the process, one observed a speedy flight, with only gusts of wind and lots of dust left in his path. A lot of fleeing took place.

That is what our lives should look like when it comes to evil. We flee; we submit to God; and the devil flees from us, too! A virtual whirlwind of feathers, wind, and dust!

No one, with a mind and a heart, wants to make the Holy Spirit’s time inside us miserable. For we have Paul’s parting shot to the Corinthians to ponder: “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed” (1 Cor. 16.22).

Much better to flee sin. Draw near to God, and watch the devil flee from us.
This is what God wants us to do, and since we belong to Him, we’d best do it His way.
After all, Jesus paid the ultimate price for this to be so (Jn. 3.16; Rom. 5.8-10; 1 Jn. 4.9).

For reflection
1. How do you prepare to face the temptations you will encounter each day?

2. When temptation does come, how do you deal with it?

3. How can believers help one another to flee immorality of every kind?

Paul does not say that we are under compulsion but that we have been bought—and bought with a great price, reminding us of the way in which our salvation was obtained. John Chrysostom (344-407), Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians 18.3

Pray Psalm 32.3-11.
Thank God for His forgiveness. Pray that He will teach you how to live according to His Word and that He will fill you with gladness in doing so.

Sing Psalm 32.3-11.
(Hendon: Take My Life and Let It Be)
When in silence I remained, groaning in my sinful pain,
You Your hand upon me lay; all my strength You drained away,
all my strength You drained away.

I confessed my sin to You; You forgave me, ever true!
Let confession’s pleading sound reach You while You may be found,
reach You while You may be found!

When flood waters threaten me, You my hiding place will be.
O’er them I will rise above, buoyed by Your redeeming love,
buoyed by Your redeeming love.

Teach me, LORD, how I should live; sound instruction ever give.
Let me never stubborn be; let Your eye watch over me,
let Your eye watch over me.

Though the wicked wail and weep, they rejoice whose souls You keep.
Trusting, we exult with praise, joyf’ly singing all our days,
joyf’ly singing all our days!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from theNew King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are fromThe Ailbe Psalter, available by clicking here.